Dark World | Matteo Mazzella | DADAA Side Gallery

Welcome to DARK WORLD, an exploration of the dark and vivid corners of the artist’s imagination.

Matteo’s first solo exhibition brings together more than a decade of work: ink illustrations, animation, and paintings, to form what he describes as a “cursed monster hive”. An artist and a filmmaker, many of Matteo’s drawings were created as artwork for his animated TV and web series Learning with Difficulties (2018–2019). Clips from this film are also presented alongside other animated works created between 2014 and 2019.

Artist statement

I failed art in school. At the time it didn’t really matter because I was much more interested in multimedia and filmmaking, which wasn’t taught at school beyond Photoshop. At the time, this wasn’t a problem because I thought I could just study film at TAFE or university. However, I soon realised that their preferred style of films bored me to death. But it’s all good because I had never realised how artistic my favourite films were and the people responsible for that art were rarely given the spotlight.

And from there I found a new passion for art. However, I wasn’t fully ready to adopt the digital art techniques favoured in films these days. Instead, I loved the detailed, etched drawings found in old books. I wanted to draw as well as that. So now, over a decade later, I think I’m as close as I’ll get… and that’s good enough. The art style in my videos has helped me stand out, win awards, and build connections. It has taken years to feel my work is good enough and now I think, in the end, I have passed.

About the artist:

Filmmaker and artist Matteo Mazzella was born in Perth / Boorloo and grew up in Western Australia’s South West. Matteo has a Diploma in Screen and Media (TAFE) and an Advanced Diploma in Screenwriting (RMIT).

After school, Matteo moved to Melbourne to study and had a range of jobs in the entertainment industry, from working on TV shows, doing graphic design and illustrations for comedians, to writing and performing with youtubers. In his spare time, he would draw and make papier-mâché puppets for his own videos.

But at the tail end of 2021, it was time to escape the Victoria’s pandemic lockdown for the freedom of Western Australia, and shift his focus to finding new employment and community. Since 2022, Matteo has been an arts worker and mentor at DADAA running their filmmaking and animation workshops, as well as developing his own creative practice.